Gentle darkness

I could certainly use some slow time. Getting up for the last work day was hard this morning. I'm grateful that I have more than a week off. 

K and L got craft supplies and we celebrated the solstice by playing with colors and paper and candles. Very sweet. When I went to bed I could hear my kids laughing at Taskmaster. 

My radiation treatments are over and I can tell the tenderness is receding. Nod is over Covid but it kicked his ass and will be a gradual process. Glad to be here - it could be worse! 

MIL is arriving after xmas, just in time to help celebrate my mom's birthday. Mom has offered to put her up which is very nice. I made a reservation at mom's favorite downtown restaurant for all of us. It's a work day for Nod so who knows if he'll join. L leaves 12/29, K on the 30th and E on the 31st. Then I get a couple days of holiday to myself.    

Get twinkling and have a sweet end to the year.

jazz, shhhh

Apparently my old person progress has reached the vintage jazz stage. Here's what's been flipping my switch lately.

An Oscar Peterson Christmas:

Thought about Eubie Blake because one of our major streets is Eubank. (His name is a nickname for Hubert, of course, not Eubank.) I enjoyed watching him play the rag he composed as a youngster. And that led me to Willie 'The Lion' Smith who I had never heard of. Performance in mid 60s Paris:

Love the stillness of his body while his hands do their thing.

Just saw Earl Hines recommended by John Darnielle (Mountain Goats) and this album is making my morning Fine and Dandy:

Nod's over his bout of Covid, with just a little cough and tiredness remaining. He went back to work on Monday and I have never seen someone so happy to get out of the house. I'm done with my radiation treatments and taking the rest of December off from my boring part time job (pursuing my own healthcare). I feel good and am grateful. 

Youngest is home after finals and we went to the mountains to cut a tree. I made Nod climb a steep slope and felt guilty about it later. But I wanted him to approve the tree I found. It was about perfect: not too tall, thin trunk that was easy to cut, on a slope with lots of other young trees so I felt like it wouldn't be missed. It's in the back yard waiting for us to figure out where it goes inside. In the picture window in the front room or back in the library where only we can see it? Furniture moving is involved, possibly a marital wrangle too. 

Adding a couple of Ethiopian jazz links: